Judge grants transgender teen’s name change

LEBANON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio judge has reversed his earlier denial of a transgender 15-year-old’s legal name change and is allowing that change.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports Warren County Probate Judge Joseph Kirby ruled Tuesday that the name change “is in the best interest of the child.”

Kirby previously said in his denial that the teen lacked the “maturity, knowledge and stability” to make such a decision.

Kirby’s reversal comes after the 12th District Court of Appeals ruled his denial of the name change was “arbitrary, unreasonable, unconscionable and based solely upon the transgender status of the applicant’s child.”

Court documents show the teen’s parents applied for the name change after the teen underwent about a year of therapy.

The parents, the teen’s doctor and the therapist supported the name change.